Hydrogen sensor mounting structure for fuel cell vehicle

Abstract

A hydrogen sensor mounting structure applicable to a fuel cell vehicle that includes a fuel cell system installed under a floor panel, and a hydrogen sensor located above the fuel cell system is provided. The floor panel includes a floor tunnel portion protruding into a cabin of the vehicle; the fuel cell system is located on an outer side of the floor tunnel portion; and the hydrogen sensor is mounted from an inner side of the cabin of the floor tunnel portion.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a hydrogen sensor mounting structure for use in a fuel cell vehicle, in which the hydrogen sensor is located above a fuel cell system installed under a floor panel. [0003] This application claims priority on Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-153742 filed on May 26, 2005, and incorporates the content thereof herein in its entirety. [0004] 2. Description of Related Art [0005] Fuel cell systems that can be incorporated in a fuel cell vehicle such as a fuel cell automobile include, for example, a system that supplies an oxidant gas to a cathode of the fuel cell while supplying a fuel gas to an anode of the fuel cell, to generate an output electric power through an electrochemical reaction of the gases. [0006] With regard to vehicles with such a fuel cell, a technique for safety assurance is known, for example, for detecting that there is no leakage of hydrogen supplied to the fuel ele...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides a hydrogen sensor mounting structure for fuel cell vehicles. The structure includes a floor tunnel portion that extends into the vehicle's cabin and a hydrogen sensor located above the fuel cell system. The hydrogen sensor is mounted from the inner side of the floor tunnel portion, eliminating the need to consider the height of the sensor when designing the floor tunnel portion. This allows for a reduction in the floor tunnel portion's height and increased flexibility in design. The hydrogen sensor is only exposed through its detecting portion, which is located at the same level as the floor panel, ensuring accurate detection of hydrogen present close to the floor panel. The hydrogen sensor can be easily removed and mounted separately from the fuel cell system, reducing labor operation burden. The invention provides higher layout designing freedom, prevents degradation of detecting accuracy, and allows easy removal and mounting of the hydrogen sensor.

Problems solved by technology

This leads to an increase in the height required for the center tunnel 6, thus giving rise to restrictions in layout designing in a vertical space, for securing the necessary height.

Furthermore, when providing a protection cover (not shown, see FIG. 3) that protects a detecting portion 8 from flying stones or splashing water, because an entirety of the hydrogen sensor 4 is exposed outside the cabin, a space for attaching the cover that encloses the entire hydrogen sensor 4 has to be secured under the center tunnel 6, which also results in restriction of freedom in arranging the hydrogen sensor 4 and the protection cover.

Accordingly, even when hydrogen is present under the center tunnel 6, if the hydrogen is floating in an upper position (region A) than the detecting surface 8 of the hydrogen sensor 4 because of the lighter specific gravity of hydrogen, the hydrogen sensor 4 may not detect the hydrogen, which leads to degradation of detecting accuracy.

In order to perform maintenance work for the hydrogen sensor 4 the fuel cell device 2 and the piping / wire harness 3 have to be removed, which complicates the work of removing and mounting the hydrogen sensor 4, thus imposing a heavier labor burden.

Images